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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28777752">Box of Kittens</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheUnfortunateCat/pseuds/TheUnfortunateCat'>TheUnfortunateCat</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Kittens, One Shot, Short &amp; Sweet, alpine tease, bucky just needs some kittens</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 06:53:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>621</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28777752</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheUnfortunateCat/pseuds/TheUnfortunateCat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>bucky finds a box of kittens.</p>
<p>thats it. thats the fic.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes &amp; Kittens, James "Bucky" Barnes &amp; Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter &amp; Steve Rogers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Box of Kittens</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span> Silent footsteps padded down the darkened, rain-slick sidewalk, the moon and stars peeking from behind thick clouds and fog while the sun sunk behind the skyscrapers, painting the sky in pinks and purples. It was a beautiful sight, but the Soldier-- </span>
  <em>
    <span>Bucky, his name was Bucky--</span>
  </em>
  <span> Bucky’s eyes were fixed firmly downward, his slow, aimless saunter leading him through the city’s more deserted streets. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> Every now and then someone would pass by, giving his brooding figure a wide berth and disappearing into the night. Some part of him catalogued the strangers’ every weakness, another part hoped nobody recognised him even with the cap and jacket he wore.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> His left arm shifted and whirred, making his shoulder ache with phantom pain. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span> He idly wondered if he should start heading home.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span> Home was where safety was. Home was where Steve was.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span> He didn’t head home.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> Instead he turned and walked down an alley, passing by dumpsters and shadows growing the farther he went.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> Suddenly, his sensitive ears picked up something strange.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <em>
    <span>Mew!</span>
  </em>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span> He stopped still, his head tilting slightly in the direction of the sound.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <em>
    <span>Mew! Mew!</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <span> Something sparked in the back of his mind. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> The soft, high-pitched meowing led him to a slightly damp cardboard box wedged between two dumpsters, one tiny paw poking out of the top.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> Bucky stared for about ten seconds, before he was pushing himself into the gap the box was stuck in, using his body to shove the dumpsters apart. A loud </span>
  <em>
    <span>screech</span>
  </em>
  <span> of metal on concrete rang through the alley, and the meowing tripled in volume and speed as he dropped down to a crouch and slowly reached for the flap of the cardboard box.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> Four sets of gleaming eyes of various colours stared up at him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> Bucky stared back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> Twenty seconds later, he was walking down the street with his jacket wrapped up in his arms, a black t-shirt with Captain America’s shield emblazoned on it being his only protection against the chilly air.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> Passerby openly stared at him now, and he did his best to ignore them, though his metal arm clicked uncomfortably. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> The bundle he held wiggled, letting out a feeble mew.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> He quickened his pace.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> When he finally reached the apartment, night had well and truly fallen, and he pushed the door open not knowing if Steve was awake or not. If he wasn’t, he would get up the next morning to a bit of a surprise.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> He was, though, and he turned away from his video call with Peggy as Bucky came in. “Oh, you’re back--” his blue eyes caught on Bucky’s parcel. “What’d you find?”</span>
</p>
<p><span> Bucky wordlessly padded over to the couch, sitting down and making himself comfortable before he made a move to reveal his bundle. Steve watched with an increasingly incredulous quirk to his lips as he slowly and meticulously unwrapped his jacket. </span><span><br/></span> <em><span>Mew!</span></em></p>
<p>
  <span> Steve’s eyebrows rocketed upward. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span> “Buck,” he began, “did you really just bring home four kittens with no warning?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> Said kittens squirmed on Bucky’s lap as he glared back at his best friend defiantly. He didn’t break his gaze even as one of them, the pure white one, started to climb up his shirt and onto his shoulder.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span> A soft, melodic laugh came through the laptop’s speakers. “Seems like Barnes found some new friends,” Peggy’s accented voice said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> Steve seemed like he wanted to say something, probably about how they weren’t prepared to deal with this many kittens so suddenly, but all he said was “Got names for them yet?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span> Bucky looked back down to the kittens, their wide eyes peering right back up at him while the white one continued on its quest to get in his hair, and spoke.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> “It’ll come to me.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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